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Rhyming Dust Bunnies

Jan Thomas

4.22 · Rating details · 6,294 ratings · 451 reviews

Bug! Rug! Mug! Hug! These dust bunnies love to rhyme. Well, except for Bob. Much to the other bunnies’ frustration, Bob can never get the rhythm right. Then he saves everyone from a big, scary monster wielding—gasp!—a broom, and they all breathe a sigh of relief. But can Bob save them from the big, scary monster’s next attack? Vrrrrrroooommm . . .

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Hardcover, 40 pages

Published January 6th 2009 by Beach Lane Books

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Average rating 4.22 ·

Rating details

· 6,294 ratings · 451 reviews

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Jun 02, 2009 Betsy rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Betsy by: Susan Pine

All right. That's it. I can't take it anymore. Could we please please PLEASE just get it over with and declare Jan Thomas some kind of national treasure / picture book genius? No, seriously people. I am not even kidding about this. I'm tired of the excuses. She killed with her debut What Will Fat Cat Sit On, slayed with A Birthday for Cow, and caused general carnage and delight with The Doghouse. I thought myself the expert of all things Thomas (Thomasian?) and then a fellow children's librarian All right. That's it. I can't take it anymore. Could we please please PLEASE just get it over with and declare Jan Thomas some kind of national treasure / picture book genius? No, seriously people. I am not even kidding about this. I'm tired of the excuses. She killed with her debut What Will Fat Cat Sit On, slayed with A Birthday for Cow, and caused general carnage and delight with The Doghouse. I thought myself the expert of all things Thomas (Thomasian?) and then a fellow children's librarian had the audacity to discover Rhyming Dust Bunnies before I could. The shame runs deep. Fortunately I was able to swipe her copy (hoo hoo!) and take a look at it myself. Aw man. For any parent that's tired of the same old same old in their rhyming picture books, Rhyming Dust Bunnies is the readaloud wonder and visual stimulant that's gonna have the kids rolling in the aisles, right alongside their parents. Once again, Thomas hits it outta the park.

Meet the rhyming dust bunnies: Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob. As they like to say "We rhyme all the time!" On this particular day Ed starts them off with wondering "Hey! What rhymes with car?" Everyone puts in a vote except for Bob. Bob's sort of staring in the distance and saying things like "Look!" and "Look Out!" The other bunnies are confused by Bob's seeming inability to rhyme. Even when he says "Look out! Here comes a big scary monster with a broom!" they're not quite catching on. Finally he screams out "Run for it!" and the troop run and hide under a dresser. However, when they attempt to restart their rhyming antics, "sat" "pat" and "rat" are completed with Bob's timely "vacuum cleaner!" and with a mighty "Thwptt" off they go.

I handed this book to my husband after I started snorting over it (for about the fifth time) and was much pleased to find that he was just as amused by it as I was. He pointed out to me that this is one of those books where kids at different ages will catch on to what's going on at different points. Older, savvier children are going to be on edge from the moment Bob says his first "Look!". Younger tots might not get it until "Look Out!" or the long monologue involving the word "broom". I did entertain the brief thought that maybe small children wouldn't like to see the book end with the bunnies in the vacuum cleaner, but honestly it's a pretty funny ending. The bunnies aren't hurt, after all. Just flailing the occasional limb.

I don't mind digital illustrations when they're done well. And Thomas has that rare gift for synthesizing a book down to its most essential parts. It's difficult to describe her art without using the word "goofy" over and over, but that's what it is. There's this weird manic energy to each of her pieces. Part of what I love about the art for this book is her characters, though. When Bob fails to rhyme the other bunnies don't tease or chastise him. There's this great moment when Ted puts out his hand towards Bob, sympathetically maybe, and gently reminds him that "Look!" does not rhyme with "car". The other bunnies stand there, looking over, their mouths completely missing at this point. Now Bob, to his credit, never lets his eyes leave the big scary object in the distance. Reading this book, his eyes are focused just over the reader's left shoulder. I think that's mighty clever. It gives the sense that whatever Bob's looking at, it's probably just behind the reader (a nice psychological trick).

Thomas has always had an eye for a pure, bright color. In this book the bunnies are red, blue, green, and purple. One imagines the interesting conversations that will occur as parents try to convince their kids that under normal circumstances dust bunnies are hardly so cheery looking. Their backgrounds are, as with most Thomas books, a series of shifting tones. Danger (as defined by Bob) is indicated by a red background, which pops up more often than the other colors. Not, interestingly enough, when they're sucked up by the vacuum cleaner (that's blue) but otherwise it's pretty consistent.

Check out the writing as well. Not many words, but oh the things they do. Kids (and parents) who reread this book for the fifth or sixth time may notice that while the other bunnies have rhyming names like Ed, Ned, and Ted, Bob is the only one who stands apart. And as a read aloud choice, I've already had a lot of fun with this one. Like What Will Fat Cat Sit On? the book directly addresses the child reader. So much so that the last image is of the bunnies asking the person reading the book for a little help. But every line has magnificent potential to it. Consider when Ned notes that Bob's long warning "does not rhyme with ANYTHING, really." I love the use of the word "really". And when the bunnies hide under the dresser Ned's "Good call, Bob" is fan-freakin-tastic. A killer line. Funny to its core.

My only question now is how long is it going to take before Jan Thomas starts writing some easy readers for kids just beginning to learn to read on their own? Because frankly, Mo Willems needs someone to challenge his Elephant and Piggie-based throne. Until that happy day arrives, we'll have to be content with little gems like this book. It seems strange that something this simple could be this disarming and funny. Rhyming will (hopefully) never be the same again.

Ages 3-8. ...more

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Sep 08, 2019 La Coccinelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children

This book is basically an example of the Cassandra phenomenon. Bob is a bit different from the other dust bunnies. Ed, Ned, and Ted always rhyme... while Bob, apparently, doesn't. In the case of this book, however, Bob's inability to rhyme might actually come in handy. If only his friends would listen to him.

The story is super simple, but I had a smile on my face as I was reading it. That said, for older readers, this is probably not going to be a book to pick up again and again. Once you know t ...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Tasha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books

Four bright-colored, hairy dust bunnies introduce themselves as Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob. They rhyme together all the time. What rhymes with car? The first three bunnies join in merrily rhyming together, but Bob has other things on his mind. Ed, Ned and Ted are oblivious to what Bob is trying to tell them, chiding him for not rhyming. Their continued rhyming and Bob's refusal to play mixed with his growing desperation for them to understand will have everyone laughing. Classic vaudeville humor in a ...more

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Dec 28, 2017 Dee/ bookworm rated it it was amazing

Very cute, very humorous!

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Feb 19, 2010 Heidi-Marie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-0-12, humor, preschool-storytime-read, fiction, picture-books, fluff, teaching-concepts

I love this! I love the bright colors, the humor, the rhymes, and that there is a dust bunny named Bob! Julie read this to us when the new books came in and I smiled with every page. Definitely a great lap read, and could probably work well in a storytime (perhaps a school age one, maybe also preschool).

And now I wish I had a few stuffed dust bunnies sitting around. Can I really be more pathetic and silly?

(Don't answer that. I know the answer already.)

3/27/13 & 3/28/13 Used this to begin my pre ...more

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Jun 03, 2009 babyhippoface rated it really liked it

Shelves: kids-picture-books

What kind of person thinks to make dust bunnies the heroes of a picture book? The kind I wanna hang out with, I'm thinkin'!

Jan Thomas is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors of books for children, and I'd never heard of her before this year. What Will Fat Cat Sit On? kills me--one of my favorite super-fast read-alouds, The Doghouse is a crowd-pleaser when read with the right intonations, and now we have rhyming dust bunnies. Seriously? Yep.

Well, except for Bob, who is much more interest ...more

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Apr 10, 2009 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books, baby-d, own, children-s-books

HILARIOUS! Very cute. Read it to your kids or give yourself a three minute break to enjoy it on your own. Good call, Bob.

Used for TT "silly" storytime on 1/24/18. ...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Catherine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, preschool-jp

I love every single book by Jan Thomas!

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Dec 11, 2018 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-little-boy

Simple. Short. Funny for my 4-year-old.

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Aug 19, 2010 Heather rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, for-the-little-ones, school-books-kid-books

My younger boys (6 and 4) think this book is the best book ever. At least for now. I've read it many a time to them. Good thing it's a quick read!

The illustrations are cute and the dialogue is funny. My boys especially love Bob, the poor dust bunny that can't seem to rhyme with the others, but does sense when danger is near. It's a good book for teaching rhyme. And it makes kids laugh.

I crack up every time I read it because my dad's name is Bob and for some reason I think it's hilarious when the ...more

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Oct 24, 2009 Cassandra rated it it was amazing

I think this is my 7 year old's favorite book of the year. And with good reason- it's pretty darned clever. We renewed our copy until the library threatened to revoke our book-checking out licenses, and now I expect I'll have to just go buy a copy because there is nothing quite like listening to my kids read it together and then dissolve into giggles (-that is when they are not arguing about who is going to read which part.) ...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Mary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: phonological-awareness, childrens-picture-books, print-awareness, print-motivation, favorite-books

Read this as an ARC at ALA (how's that for acronym-dropping?) and it was hilarious! I can't wait to use this in storytime. A great book to support phonological awareness, obviously, as there is a lot of rhyming (and not rhyming) in the story. Fred, Ed, Ted, and Bob are the most endearing anthropomorphized dust bunnies in print. Or are they the only dust bunnies in print? ...more

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Jun 09, 2016 Kimberly Bower MLIS (gladeslibrarian) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-book

I absolutely love Rhyming Dust Bunnies. It is a library and story time favorite. It is a very engaging picture book about dust bunnies who love to rhyme but get into trouble because they are so in love with rhyming that they ignore Bob's warnings until it is too late. Fun introduction to rhyming words. ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Jan Polep rated it it was amazing

Hysterical! Recommended for the preschool-third grade crowd (but any age will get a kick out of it), this small picture book is simply the best. Best 3 word title. Best depiction of dust bunnies. Best thing to read to bring on uncontrolled guffaws. Only thing that might be even better would be puppets playing all the parts. Gotta go find the rest of Jan Thomas' books. ...more

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Jan 23, 2017 Courtney Barter rated it really liked it

Shelves: kidlit

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas is a sweet book. The illustrations are bright and colorful which draws the reader in. It is about dust bunnies who always find words that rhyme. The book is quite simple, with "sight words." I believe it would be a great choice for younger students to read, but also fun for the older children. It is a Monarch Award winner. ...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Molly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-book, funny, goodboyreads, poetry

I am joining the group of people who love this book. I laughed outloud made Lloyd read it he laughed out loud and I have been giggling about it in my brain all day long. I love these dust bunnies and want some of my own(ok I have some but they are not nearly as colorful). Ages 2+

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Feb 03, 2010 Carrie rated it really liked it

My three-and-a-half year old loves this book. He laughs hysterically at the end and then insists: "Read it again!"

It's a fun, silly story with lots of bright colors and a chance for my son to practice his rhyming skills. Lots of fun. ...more

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Oct 12, 2015 Katherine Cowley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books, humor

This book made me laugh out loud. It is brilliant and hilarious. It loses the element of surprise after the first read, but not the charm. Also, every time one of the characters asks for a rhyme, I let me children give their own rhymes first, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

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Jan 12, 2009 Dawn rated it it was amazing

Cute book for preschoolers.

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Feb 27, 2009 Susan rated it liked it

Shelves: picture-books

It's no Birthday for Cow, that's for sure. ...more

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Oct 01, 2014 Amy marked it as picture-books-read

Shelves: rhyme, funny, current-home-library

Simple enough for a new reader, but even adults will enjoy it! Full review here: http://sunlitpages.blogspot.com/2014/... ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 Ambree rated it really liked it

Loved this book. Great book to use to support language development and knowledge of rhyming words.

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Jan 21, 2017 Cosette rated it it was amazing

The funniest book I've read this year. ...more

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Apr 04, 2019 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-talking-2019, virtual-story-time-for-hannah

Can't go wrong rhyming! ...more

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Jul 22, 2019 Lara rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019, picture-book, storytime-ideas

I love the Rhyming Dust Bunnies! Big clear pictures with rather silly characters, plus word building skills - gotta love it.

I like using this one or it's sequel Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny! for storytimes with older kids, especially for storytimes on poems or rhymes. We don't follow the story exactly, but get the kids calling out rhyming words along with the bunnies. This works best with a little older storytime crowd - older preschoolers and kindergarteners. You know, once they're old e ...more

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Oct 19, 2019 Miss Jenny rated it really liked it

Four dust bunnies have a conversation about words that rhyme and point out when Bob chooses words that don't.

I originally purchased Rhyming Dust Bunnies on the recommendation of another teacher but I never got around to using it as I changed grade level. I came across it again as I was sorting through my bookshelves trying to find age-appropriate ones for my children.

Both my kids seemed drawn to Bob. Bob, who has a lot of trouble working out the whole rhyming business but who has other strengths ...more

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Feb 08, 2018 Katherine Griffith rated it it was amazing

Car far jar tar look! The rhyming dust bunnies Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob, are good at rhyming, well almost all of them. Bob is not very good at keeping the rhyme going. However, Bob does save the dust bunnies from a broom! They go back to rhyming again, but another monster is coming now! Read the book to find out how the dust bunnies deal with their next trial.
A theme in the book is it is ok to be different. In the story, the different dust bunny (Bob) saved them from the broom because he didn't fol ...more

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Nov 12, 2018 Isabel Smith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: humor, childrens, picture-books, interactive, learning

This is a simple and funny picture book about 4 little dust bunnies who proclaim their love and enjoyment for rhyming words together. As they go through each of their rhymes, one of the dust bunnies yells things that do not rhyme with the others because he is trying to warn them of a potentially dangerous situation: the broom coming towards them to sweep them up! The cycle continues again until the find themselves stuck inside the vacuum cleaner. This book is a great way to introduce simple rhym ...more

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Nov 11, 2018 Jenna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-children-s-books, children-s-books

Rhyming Dust Bunnies is a colorful and fun book to read aloud with young children. It is so much fun to see children's understanding of rhyming words come through by reading this book. Poor Bob appears to not know how to rhyme, but in reality he's probably the smartest Bunny of the bunch--continuously saving the rest from imminent danger! It is a fun fiction book that will engage young readers and listeners.

I can see using this book for practice with rhyming in the classroom. The teacher could ...more

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Apr 16, 2019 Alicia Evans rated it really liked it

Shelves: type-fiction, format-board-picture-book, age-children

We read this today as one of the books in our puppet show. One staff member read the book while other staff helped act it out with puppets. We ended the show with this story and it is wonderfully funny. The kids loved it and asked us to do it again. The three dust bunnies rhyming and the one dust bunny who cannot rhyme anything make for a lot of laughs, and the book has a surprise ending. It's easy for multiple reading levels to appreciate and it will be one that I read again.

For: readers wantin ...more

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